The Portland City Council has given the Board of Public Education the go-ahead to allocate an extra $6.2 million in state aid for the 2021-2022 school year for tax relief, custodial salaries and the creation of a debt service relief fund.

The extra $1.49 million being used as tax relief will mean taxpayers will not see a tax increase this year to fund the city’s municipal and school budgets. Just over $3.4 million will be put into a debt service relief fund for the renovations to Lyseth, Longfellow, Presumpscot and Reiche elementary schools. The remaining money – $1.3 million – will cover custodial costs, something that has been funded through federal coronavirus relief funds for the 2020-2021 school year.

“The way we allocated this funding puts the district in a good financial place for a couple of years going forward,” Finance Committee Chair Anna Trevorrow said.

The additional $6.2 million to the district’s $125.2 million 2021-2022 school year is Portland’s share of the state’s $187 million supplemental budget for K-12 education.

The additional funding increases the state’s share of statewide school funding to a voter-mandated 55% for the first time in Maine’s  history.